By Louise Flanagan
DURING the week, Letterkenny Babies Facebook page received the following message: “Milford area. 8.15pm Wednesday, Church Road.
Boys were throwing water balloons from the church graveyard over the wall on church road. My car was hit by four; the first hit the windscreen, one hit my wee girl’s window very hard, the other two hit the side of the car. I hope parents know where their kids were at that time? And I hope no one was hurt. Check what your kids are up to. Scary.”
This poster had my sympathy; I don’t think it’s acceptable for kids to distract road users in such a way.
I’ve never been hit by water balloons while driving, but I have had snowballs thrown at the car and it gave me an awful fight. In my panic, I slammed on the brakes which caused me to skid on the icy road. I wasn’t sure if I had hit something and it was only when more snowballs were pelted at me that I realised what had happened. It really wasn’t a nice experience.
Many page users agreed that it was unacceptable for children to be throwing water balloons to intentionally distract drivers. However, there were some people who commented saying it was “only a bit of craic” and that the rest of us should lighten up. “Sure we all did it when we were young.”
No. no, we didn’t. And if I had, my parents would have been absolutely disgusted and it would not have been worth the scolding I’d have endured. Those who deemed it to be “no big deal” provoked further reaction from page users.
“With the comments on here from adults, it’s no wonder the kids are up to this carry on. I wouldn’t like that to happen to me. Should report to Gardaí for sure. Dangerous, not fun.”
“If they want a bit of craic, they should throw them at each other – not cars.”
Another page user commented to say that the kids had also been throwing the water balloons at a horse in a nearby field.
Again, while the kids mightn’t feel like a wee water balloon is going to do much damage to a horse, it would have been distressing for the animal and it’s a real pity that the kids would find that funny. The poster wrote that the horse ran around the field scared for a while after the incident and another added that this behaviour could cause a horse to bolt from a field altogether.
Several other page members commented to say that their cars had also been pelted with balloons, with some claiming that there must have been little stones in the balloons because their windscreen got cracked. They reported the incident to the guards.
How could anyone possibly comment to say this is just a bit of craic? We need to raise our kids to do better and be better.
Sometimes, a kid’s natural instinct can be mischievous. A prank shared with friends can be a bit of a laugh. Young people aren’t so inclined to think of the consequences of their actions though. I highly doubt those boys would intend to cause serious damage or injury to someone driving past, and yet, they really could.
On these long summer evenings, kids need a reminder to be respectful to others – not because we have no sense of humour and we’re trying to spoil their fun; being distracted when you’re behind the wheel is no joke.
Louise Flanagan is an admin of Letterkenny Babies Facebook page and the author of the children’s book series, Dragonterra. www.dragonterra.ie
Her Parenting column appears every Thursday in the Donegal News.
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